diff --git a/oggm/utils.py b/oggm/utils.py
index 72fcaf4ff..351f989f4 100644
--- a/oggm/utils.py
+++ b/oggm/utils.py
@@ -128,15 +128,16 @@ def _cached_download_helper(cache_obj_name, dl_func):
     return cache_path
 
 
-def _urlretrieve(url, *args, **kwargs):
+def _urlretrieve(url, cache_obj_name=None, *args, **kwargs):
     """Wrapper around urlretrieve, to implement our caching logic.
 
     Instead of accepting a destination path, it decided where to store the file
     and returns the local path.
     """
 
-    cache_obj_name = urlparse(url)
-    cache_obj_name = cache_obj_name.netloc + cache_obj_name.path
+    if cache_obj_name is None:
+        cache_obj_name = urlparse(url)
+        cache_obj_name = cache_obj_name.netloc + cache_obj_name.path
 
     def _dlf(cache_path):
         logger.info("Downloading %s to %s..." % (url, cache_path))
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ def _dlf(cache_path):
     return _cached_download_helper(cache_obj_name, _dlf)
 
 
-def _progress_urlretrieve(url):
+def _progress_urlretrieve(url, cache_name=None):
     """Downloads a file, returns its local path, and shows a progressbar."""
 
     try:
@@ -162,14 +163,14 @@ def _upd(count, size, total):
                     pbar[0].start(UnknownLength)
             pbar[0].update(min(count * size, total))
             sys.stdout.flush()
-        res = _urlretrieve(url, reporthook=_upd)
+        res = _urlretrieve(url, cache_obj_name=cache_name, reporthook=_upd)
         try:
             pbar[0].finish()
         except:
             pass
         return res
     except ImportError:
-        return _urlretrieve(url)
+        return _urlretrieve(url, cache_obj_name=cache_name)
 
 
 def aws_file_download(aws_path):
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ def aws_file_download(aws_path):
         return _aws_file_download_unlocked(aws_path)
 
 
-def _aws_file_download_unlocked(aws_path):
+def _aws_file_download_unlocked(aws_path, cache_name=None):
     """Download a file from the AWS drive s3://astgtmv2/
 
     **Note:** you need AWS credentials for this to work.
@@ -190,7 +191,10 @@ def _aws_file_download_unlocked(aws_path):
     while aws_path.startswith('/'):
         aws_path = aws_path[1:]
 
-    cache_obj_name = 'astgtmv2/' + aws_path
+    if cache_name is not None:
+        cache_obj_name = cache_name
+    else:
+        cache_obj_name = 'astgtmv2/' + aws_path
 
     def _dlf(cache_path):
         import boto3
@@ -209,7 +213,7 @@ def _dlf(cache_path):
     return _cached_download_helper(cache_obj_name, _dlf)
 
 
-def file_downloader(www_path, retry_max=5):
+def file_downloader(www_path, retry_max=5, cache_name=None):
     """A slightly better downloader: it tries more than once."""
 
     local_path = None
@@ -218,7 +222,7 @@ def file_downloader(www_path, retry_max=5):
         # Try to download
         try:
             retry_counter += 1
-            local_path = _progress_urlretrieve(www_path)
+            local_path = _progress_urlretrieve(www_path, cache_name=cache_name)
             # if no error, exit
             break
         except HTTPError as err: